Already
by Kentra02
Summary: A mission is taking longer than expected, leaving Duo and Heero longing for each other’s presence.


Title: Already  
  
Author: Kentra Shinataku  
  
Anime: Gundam Wing  
  
Genre: Sap, Fluff, mildly mild angst  
  
Pairings: 1x2  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Archive: http://www.deathandpassion.cjb.net. If you want it, ask and ye shall receive.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam boys, or anything Gundam related, nor do I claim to. I also claim no ownership to the song "I'm Already There" by Lonestar, which this fic was based off of.  
  
Summary: A mission is taking longer than expected, leaving Duo and Heero longing for each other's presence.  
  
Notes: This should really be called a songfic, I guess, but I don't actually have the lyrics interposed in the fic. The fic is based off of the song, because the way the lyrics are, they basically tell their own story.  
  
**********  
  
Already  
  
Duo rubbed his weary eyes. He had been staring at the screen of his laptop for hours and his lacking attention span had finally resorted him to counting the number of times the screen flickered per minute. If he kept it up any longer, he was going to need glasses. The sooner he found everything he needed, the sooner this mission would be over.  
  
The sooner he could get back to Heero.  
  
He sighed, absently fingering the thin, silver chain that dangled around his wrist, the one his lover had bestowed upon him a few weeks ago. It looked very old, but it was by no means fragile. Duo had no idea where Heero had obtained it, but had no intention of taking it off, especially after hearing Heero's words as he clasped it around his wrist. He had taken him by the hand, looked him in the eye, and in that no-argument tone he pulled off so well, he said, "As long as you wear this, no matter what happens to either of us, I'm chained to you." That was pretty damn romantic, Duo thought, though anyone else would have said it in a gentle, sweet tone. Heero was always brief, to the point. That's just how he was.  
  
His eyes darted longingly towards his cell phone, lying mutely next to his computer.  
  
'Work,' he reprimanded himself harshly, 'the faster you work, the faster you can get back to him.'  
  
He glared at his innocent laptop, hating it, hating the mission, hating the war that kept him from the one he loved.  
  
His fingers settled once again over the keyboard and Duo willed his eyes to focus on the screen. However, his disobedient eyes decided to mangle the words into a blur so that he felt as if he was attempting to read Russian. Which, for the record, he couldn't read.  
  
This mission required an annoying amount of research, as he had been thrown into it with next to no instruction. Intercept data transfer, record data transfer, shut down the base's network. Easy enough… if you were the Perfect Hacker, a.k.a. Heero Yuy. Duo, on the other hand, was more skilled with actual infiltration, which, of course, came _after_ he found what he needed. It would be helpful if he had been given a little information, as in the location of the base.  
  
"Forgot one minor detail, didn't we?" Duo muttered to himself. The supply base was actually underground, any entrances unknown, not to mention the exact location of the place. That was his job. Such a fun mission. Duo rolled his eyes. This was taking much longer than expected and he couldn't understand why this hadn't been a dual assignment with Heero. Too bad that was only wishful thinking.  
  
The harder he tried to concentrate on the blur he'd like to call data, the harder it was to decipher. Duo glanced at the hotel clock, only to discover the reason everything seemed so incoherent; it was a ridiculous hour in the A.M. and a sane person would have been asleep long ago. However, the watch around his left wrist read a time that didn't compare to the one he was living in. According to his watch, he should have slept, woken, and showered by now. The time was set to EST Earth Time, the time that his lover was currently existing in. Just another reminder of how far apart they really were.  
  
The flickering, blurry screen had become impossible to focus on and Duo slammed it shut, belatedly worried that it had broken. Frustrated, he snatched his cell phone, threw himself on the none-too-cozy hotel mattress and drew a blanket around him. He was lucky enough to have gotten a room with a broken heater during one of this colony's glorious winter months. Though, he was thankful it didn't get as cold as some of the places on Earth were.  
  
Duo pulled the antenna of his cell phone out and opened the voice panel. After checking his wristwatch one more time, he dialed his way to Heero. He smiled upon hearing his lover's voice for what seemed like the first in a lifetime.  
  
"Miss me, much?" Duo greeted casually, belying his mingled feelings of joy and exhaustion.   
  
"Duo, are you crazy? It's got to be four a.m. there-"  
  
"Five," Duo corrected matter-of-factly.  
  
Heero released an audible sigh. "How's the mission looking?"  
  
Duo snorted. "Like a nightmare. You'd think they'd provide me with a little bit of info before they throw me onto a random colony, but no, of course not." Needless to say, he felt a little bit better after the miniature rant.   
  
"How long since you've slept?"  
  
"Uhm…" Duo began, but a question from the background of Heero's line interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Is that Maxwell? Tell him he needs to haul himself back here so you'll stop brooding." The voice was muffled, but Duo could clearly hear the smile in Wufei's voice. He had almost forgotten that his lover was still stationed with Wufei.  
  
Heero snorted quietly. "I probably don't need to repeat that as Chang talks so loud. I'm going outside for some… privacy." Duo could almost feel the glare that he had thrown Wufei amidst the sentence. He heard a door slide closed and the almost annoying sound of birds chirping gaily in the background. The image of Heero sitting Indian-style in the grass, the fallen rays of light pooling over him was an image not far from Duo's mind.  
  
There was a moment of comfortable quiet between them and Duo knew that his lover was working up the courage to say something important. He still struggled with speaking his emotions.   
  
"I miss you. How long until you can come back?"  
  
Duo didn't know the answer to that, and Heero knew that there was no way he could know until the mission was complete. They both yearned for the consolation of promises they were unable to keep and words they were unable to whisper in one another's ears. Duo wouldn't promise anything he couldn't keep. For all he knew, he would be dead soon. But Heero needed this. He told himself otherwise, but he needed it, too.  
  
"Heero, I'm already there. I'm with you right now." He could just picture the slightly confused expression on his brow.  
  
"Duo…"   
  
"Seriously, look around you. Do you see the shadows on the ground?" There was a silence and Duo could tell that Heero just didn't get it yet. "Well, do you see them?" He earned another hesitation.  
  
"…yes."  
  
"See, that's me. I'm right there with you. And the way the sun's falling down on you, making you warm, that's my arms around you."  
  
"Duo…" he tried to interpose.  
  
"There's a little breeze, isn't there?" Duo continued. ignoring the small protest as his eyes stung with loneliness. Saying these things made him realize just how alone he really was and he fought with himself to keep his voice in check.  
  
"Duo…"  
  
"Is there?" he demanded, lightly.  
  
"Yes, there is," Heero replied with a resolute sigh.  
  
"Listen to it, Heero. That's my voice whispering to you."  
  
It was quiet for a moment, and then, "Duo, I love you so much." Heero sounded strained, his voice tight as if he were holding in tears.  
  
"I love you too, darling."  
  
"You need to get some sleep, at least an hour or two," Heero pleaded. Duo smiled.  
  
"Okay, I'll talk to you again sometime, hopefully soon."  
  
"No, don't go yet," his lover interjected.  
  
"But-"  
  
"No, I… I want to put you to sleep, love." He struggled with the words, but they were such important words. "Are you in bed already?"  
  
"Yes, I am," Duo offered tenderly.  
  
"Good, turn off the lamp and wrap the blankets around you tightly."  
  
"Okay," Duo replied, responding to the simple commands.  
  
"Now close your eyes and listen," he paused a moment, allowed Duo to do so, "Do you hear your heartbeat? That's me, keeping you alive, love." His discomfort at saying these things was slowly being driven away by the need to ease his lover to sleep.  
  
"Put two fingers over your lips," he instructed. Duo mewed a sound of agreement. "Those are my lips on yours, kissing your goodnight. And those blankets around you are me, lying with you." Heero longed to feel that soft skin and hair entangled around him then, and felt the emptiness of missing Duo pang sharply inside him again.  
  
"I want you with me, Heero," Duo sighed.  
  
"You are. No matter how far apart we are, I'll always love you. You're still chained to me, right?"   
  
Duo toyed with the little silver chain decorating his wrist beneath the blankets. "Of course. I'll be yours, always. I'm yours already." 


End file.
